Topic: Mad Men

As always, spoilers lie ahead…Mad Men sixth season finale was entitled “In Care Of,” but it could have been “Wow. Didn’t See That Comin’.” Throughout the entire hour the writers upended expectations by having characters travel down familiar roads, making the same bad choices until they decide, or others decide for them, to try something different. And for the most part, it all played out in a way that was surprising, heart breaking and completely believable and true to the characters we’ve come to know. Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…For an episode that began with Ken Cosgrove getting shot–gotta tap dance faster buddy–”The Quality of Mercy” was kinda a low-key episode. While there was nothing as heart-stopping as Sally walking in on Don and Sylvia mid-coitus, the after shocks from it, as well as from Bob Benson’s confession to Pete and the rekindling of Ted and Peggy’s potential affair, permeated the proceedings. Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…Just as last week’s “A Tale of Two Cities” aptly summed up that episode’s theme of the culture clash between late 60′s New York and L.A. as well as the inner decay and power struggles happening within both SC&P’s offices and across the country, this week’s “Favors” hit the thematic nose on the head, as Mad Men’s characters found themselves on either asking for, on the receiving end of or offering a helping hand. Although it has to be said that helping hand wasn’t always appreciated. Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…Last week’s “The Better Half” delved headlong into the themes of the two halves of individuals (i.e the way we see ourselves vs. the way others see us) and how time can shift the nature of key relationships, particularly when one party is trying to reach for a safety net that no longer exists. There are traces of the former in “A Tale of Two Cities,” with Joan’s story line in particular, but the main thrust of the episode was how the social upheaval going on in American culture is seeping into the culture of the ad business, is changing into a more ferocious beast. Continue...

As always, spoilers are ahead….A decidedly more sedate episode than last week’s “The Crash”–though anything would be more sedate after that epic fall down the rabbit hole–”The Better Half” had Mad Men‘s major players facing the reality relationships either in the process of being lost or already lost, both past and present. Starting with Don and Ted quibbling over margarine, the story arcs revolved around characters being torn by two choices put in front of them that were at were once different and the same. Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…Goodness where to start? Last night’s Mad Men was without a doubt the strangest, trippiest, and outright hilarious episode in the show’s history.”The Crash” started with a literal one involving Ken driving an Impala packed with crazed Chevy execs, and after a shot of “energy” from a good doctor, became a physical and emotional one, as the men at SCDP all found themselves flaming out, flashing back, or in the case of Ken, doing a little dance in the face of darkness. Mad Men at its core has always been about the unraveling of Don Draper (I know, a groundbreaking revelation right?), slowly peeling back the layers of his cool exterior to revealed the tortured soul underneath. Since Don’s not exactly talkative, at lot of the unraveling has been via flashbacks while high on weed (“The Hobo Code”), being death’s door sick (“Mystery Date”), drunken confessions (“Long Weekend,” [...] Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…Last week’s “For Immediate Release” saw the inevitable merger of SCDP and CGC (they have to decide on a new name; I mean the cost of putting all those letters up on the door alone…), in an effort to compete with the big boys. With the merger of any two parties, there are bound to be growing pains, casualties and unforeseen challenges, and “Man With A Plan,” dealt with those themes, as well as the idea that both parties have their own plans and agendas simmering just beneath the surface. Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…While I’ve definitely enjoyed this season of Mad Men so far, it has been long on lull and slow on big events. Of course, many, including myself, would argue this is the way the show and its seasons are often structured–a few slow burners in the beginning to set up characters and plots that will detonate later on. And boy, did things get set off in “For Immediate Release,” which definitely takes the crown (so far) for season six’s most fist-pumping worthy episode. Continue...

As always, spoilers lie ahead…As with the assassination of JFK in season three’s “The Grownups,” in “The Flood,” a national tragedy–in this case the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr–has stopped the the characters of Mad Men and their insulated world in their tracks. And just like “The Grownups” the crushing world events outside seep into everyone’s personal lives, shaping or warping their decisions as well as their interactions with others. Continue...

LINK As always, spoilers lie ahead…After three hours of focusing primarily on the men of Mad Men, this week”s episode, “To Have And To Hold,” was a decidedly more female-driven affair, as we caught up with Joan and delved more into Megan”s career. And of course, Dawn who finally got a story line. Yay! Continue...